Tampa firm adding to Gatewood project

Harrod Properties Inc. is preparing to break ground on a trio of new industrial buildings in Lakewood Ranch within its Gatewood Corporate Center.

The Tampa-based developer, which began work in early 2017 on its 85-acre industrial project in the master-planned community straddling Sarasota and Manatee counties, has to date developed 320,000 square feet in Gatewood.

The $50 million project’s next phase will include another 180,000 square feet, in three buildings of 60,000 square feet each, says Stephen Racine, Harrod’s vice president of leasing and development.

“The leasing for the existing space there has gone better than we initially expected,” Racine says. “The feedback to the buildings has been very positive.”

Racine says Harrod hopes to complete the trio of new “flex” buildings — a mix of office and industrial space — by the end of this year. Two of the new buildings will be leased, while a third will be offered for sale.

Founded in 1990, Harrod has developed more than 15 million square feet of office and industrial space in Florida, Texas and other states.